Twinsburg School District Asking for New Levy

My local school district has been conducting forums to explore public reactions to a new school levy of either 4.9 or 6.9 mills. Summit County has reduced property values during this recession period by more than 10%, so this impacts a bit on how much revenue is collected by schools and local governments.

Personally, my taxable property value was reduced by $7,620, decreasing my my annual property taxes by $234. Small potatoes overall, but multiply this by all property owners in my school district and it is significant. If schools ask for a 4.9 mill levy, they will collect about $281 a year from me or about $47 more than I paid in 2010. The 6.9 mill proposal will increase my taxes next year by $396 or $162 a year more than I paid in 2010.

Bottom line: the 4.9 mills proposal will not raise enough revenue for the schools unless drastic and permanent cuts are made and there is still no guarantee that they won't come back for another increase in two or three years. I would support the 6.9 mills proposal if the school district would do the following:
 1. make modest and permanent budget cuts this year,
 2. do not go for any loans this year in anticipation of future revenues,
 3. promise not to ask voters for any additional levy or bond issues over the next five years.

Using Public Lands to Develop Clean Energy?

More from President Obama's State of the Union:

"I’m directing my administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes.  And I’m proud to announce that the Department of Defense, working with us, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history -– with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year."

The Federal Government owns nearly 650 million acres of land - that means almost one third of all the land area of the United States qualifies as "public land". Public lands include National Parks, National Forests, and National Wildlife Refuges. 

So what kind of development are we talking about - thermal, wind, natural gas? Every state has some public lands, but most of the acreage is out West, so I'm guessing that's where the focus will be. 

State of the Union - the morning after

I watched the State the Union address last night and spent three hour this morning studying the enhanced version on YouTube. The enhanced version had President Obama on the left side of the screen and the slide presentation on the right. I'm sure the slides were meant to clarify his talking points, but they also called attention to details that merit further examination. For example, Obama believes that eliminating the Bush tax cuts is fair. The slide that accompanied his address shows that someone earning $40,000 to $50,000 would pay $909 more in taxes and someone earning $1,000,000 a year would pay $103,835. The reality of this example is that the lower middle class family would actually pay 20% more in taxes once the Bush tax is repealed, but the millionaire would only pay 10% more! Granted the rich millionaire would pay more in actual money, but the 20% increase in taxes would hurt the salaried working stiff a lot more. Washington would get a heck of a lot more tax revenue to pay for new spending programs and the working poor would continue their downward economic spiral. I have to ask, where is the fairness in this?

Fair tax?

I'm not opposed to everyone paying the same tax rate, possibly 20%, with the following exception: the first $25,000 of personal income and capital gains should be tax free. This would help low income workers, the young, and seniors on fixed income. Even workers earning up to $100,000 would see a slight benefit.

WiFi Access to TV Shows

Through my Apple TV device I have access to movies and TV shows available on Netflix and iTunes. I subscribe to Netflix online and rent individual titles from iTunes, so I know that accessing entertainment online is not impossible. I am also able to view current TV shows via DishNetwork online the day after they are broadcast on satellite TV. So when are we going to be able to watch shows in real time on our computers, tablets, or smart phones? Or when are we going to be able to purchase services from any provider online, whether they're our local satellite provider or not?

Financial Mess

Just heard Chris, Democratic apologist, on TV say that once the Bush tax cuts go away the national debt will start receding. I had to make note of that somewhere, so I wouldn't forget it. I can't believe that anyone seriously believes that higher taxes alone will bring a reduction of our national debt, so it is okay to borrow another trillion dollars. The only problem is that in three months we will need to borrow another trillion. At this rate in another five years the interest alone on our national debt will equal our GDP.